Commotion
by rcl123321
Summary: Max and the flock take a break, but how long can they stay safe? FAXNESS! Please review and tell me if you like it. I might continue if you ask. flock -and Total- belongs to james patterson


"Max?" Angel's voice called to me over the roar of the wind in my ears.

"Yes, sweetie?" I swooped in closer to her.

"I'm tired." She frowned. "And hungry." I knew what she meant. The flock and I had been flying for hours. It was starting to get dark and we hadn't eaten anything since very early this morning.

I met Fang's eyes. He shrugged.

"Do you think that we could stop at a hotel, Max? Please? Just this once?" Nudge looked at me with her Bambi-eyes. That might make Fang automatically cave, but not me.

"Nudge . . .I don't know. Anybody could be and Eraser and we wouldn't see it coming. I mean, there are a lot of people in hotels and we really shouldn't let our guard down. Plus Total won't be allowed in a hotel."

Angel thought about this. "We won't have to let our guard down. But there are no caves around to stop and I'm really tired and hungry. And I can . . . convince . . . the hotel people to let Total stay with us." I really didn't approve of Angel's power to "convince" others to do anything she wants them to, even if it does come in handy sometimes. And we were kind of desperate.

I sighed and—against my better judgment—gave in. "Fine—but only for tonight. Any we leave immediately at _any_ sign of trouble. No questions asked."

The rest of the flock, except Fang, nodded and cheered, swooping lower.

Fang flew closer to me. "You sure?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yea, I mean, it's not as if we really have another choice."

I almost forgot to flap my wings as I stared into his dark, bottomless eyes. My heart skipped a beat. _Stop it Max, _I scolded myself_, he's _Fang_, practically your brother._

After a few moments he looked away and shrugged. "Okay." Was all he said as he swooped closer to the rest of the flock.

"Okay guys, we're gonna stop at that hotel over there. Swoop in to the woods below. Iggy, thirty degree angle down to your right."

"'Kay." He nodded and we all swooped lower.

We landed into woods along the side of a road that was not very busy. Once I did a quick head count, I cautiously walked out of the woods, the flock following me and Fang taking up the rear. There was a hotel not far away that looked very eye-catching and mansion-like. There were a few valets that seemed confused that we were not in a car. _Yea well, welcome to my world,_ I thought bitterly. Then I remembered Angel and quickly cut off the un-leader-like thought. I nodded to the rest of the flock as we entered through the large doors.

We all gazed around in wonder as we took in the large, fancy lobby. There was a big chandelier hanging very high from the ceiling and glowing lamps. The walls were decorated with paintings that probably cost a few thousand bucks. Their furniture was neat and clean and there were coffee tables and lounge chairs. Gazzy was explaining the fancy décor of the room to a nodding Iggy.

"Oh my . . . " Nudge breathed. "Wow! Look at this! Oooh Max, this is so fancy, but it looks expensive too. Oh, when I grow up I want to be rich enough to decorate my entire house like this! Oooh and I'd hire a maid named Charlotte and a butler named Bob. Bob just seems like the kind of name suited for a butler, don't ya think? I just can't get over how fancy this hotel is—"

"Nudge." I interrupted her. She stopped talking, blushing and smiling sheepishly at her rambling. But I knew what she was talking about. This was pretty different than what we were used to. Sure beats cold and windy caves night after night.

I walked up to the front counter, my flock following close to my heels.

There was a guy—probably around seventeen years old—behind the counter, watching us as we approached.

"Hello." He greeted me, smiling. "Welcome to the Marcili Hotel, how may _I_ help _you_?" He seemed to put emphases on the two words, leaning very close to me over the counter. He raised his eyebrows slightly at me.

I was confused by the action but kept on anyway. "Uh, well do you have six connecting rooms?"

He shook his head slowly, still gazing at me. "No, but we have three rooms connecting. But how about I give you two rooms and _you_ can come get a room with me babe?" He leaned forward, his eyes slowly raking my body head from toe with a look of disgusting greed in his eyes. From the corner of my eye I saw Fang suddenly stiffen and clench his fists almost unnoticeably. But this time, it wasn't because of Erasers.

_Oh my God,_ I thought, surprised and a bit irritated. _He is hitting on me. Me. Max. Why is there always something? Just give me the freakin' rooms so that we can be on our way!_

"Yea," I said, leaning toward him as a look of hopeful anticipation lit his face. "We could do that." We were close now. His face was only a few inches from mine. My voice suddenly got sharp. "_Or_ you could give us the keys to the three rooms, we could pay, and we could forget all about this before I punch your face into your skull and you won't wake up 'til next week with a nasty bruise and a horrible headache. Which I _am_ capable of doing, by the way. So, which will it be?"

He suddenly paled, his eyes going wide as he leaned away from me in fear. I was a bit embarrassed about this happening in front of the kids. Well, not the threat, but the part where he hit on me.

He cleared his throat. "So, that will be $60.00 a night per person. How long will you be staying?"

I muttered "good choice" under my breath and turned toward the flock. We could all use a really long shower and clean clothes. Iggy was just staring blankly at me—well, at my forehead—and Gazzy was sniffing his shirt with a wrinkled nose. Nudge was shifting from foot to foot the way she does when she's hungry and Angel was looking at me with pleading eyes. And Fang—Fang surprised me. He, Mr. Rock emotionless guy, was glaring at the boy behind the counter, silently fuming. Heck, I could feel his anger from here. Though, I had absolutely no idea what he was mad about. I sent him a questioning look, but he ignored it.

I turned back to the employee. "Um, two nights please." I really wasn't happy about this. One night seemed long enough. But, I knew my flock could use a bit of relaxation. And it'd be a miracle if we get out of here without encountering any Erasers.

I took a credit card out of my pocket and handed it to him. The credit card—of course— wasn't mine. I had stolen it from a lady a few states ago. She had set down her baby bag along the sidewalk, trying to calm her crying baby in her stroller. While her back was turned, I had taken her wallet out of the baby bag, quickly taking a credit card and a bunch of hundreds before just as quickly putting it back and silently motioning the flock to run. It hadn't been one of my finer moments. But really, who carry's a bunch of money like that if their not rich? And anyway, we're saving her, here baby, and the world. The least she could do is lend us the money.

He glanced pointedly at Total. "There are no dogs allowed in this hotel. So, your going to have to ditch the dog." He scanned the credit card, then raised his eyebrows at me. "You're Betty Olnosi? Age twenty nine?"

I nodded without missing a beat. "Of course I am." _Angel?_ I called with my mind. I normally wouldn't approve of this, but I was desperate.

She nodded at me before turning to the guy. "Mister?" She asked in a—well—angelic voice. "Just give us the keys to the rooms and forget all about this whole name incident. Oh, and you're going to let our dog, Total, stay with us. 'Kay?"

With a dazed look, he nodded and grabbed the keys off the hook and handed them to me. "Third floor. Enjoy your stay."

I nodded and my flock and I headed for the stair case.

On the third floor, I said, "Alright, we have rooms 265, 266 and 267. Two people per room, I guess."

Angel ran up and quickly grabbed the key to room 267. "Oooh Nudge, come on, we can room together!"

Nudge smiled. "Yea! It can be like a slumber party. We can do each others hair and . . ." They walked down the hall to their room, Nudge still talking about what they can do at this "slumber party", Total following after them.

Iggy took the key to room 266. "Come on Gasman, you can room with me." He smirked at me and Fang over his shoulder as he entered his room.

"No bombs." I said before the door shut.

This left me and Fang. I turned to him, opening my mouth to speak, but stopped when I saw his face. His face showed no emotion but his eyes were still blazing with anger.

"Fang? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He mumbled, snatching the key from my hand and unlocking our door. I followed him into the room.

The room was big. And I mean _big_. It had a huge, fancy television and a regular sized refrigerator. It had a microwave and shelves. There was a big table with around seven chairs. There were more lounge chairs and it had a closet full of towels and blankets. There was a vanity outside of the bathroom door. It had packets of clean, unused toothbrushes and toothpaste. There were even a few hairbrushes wrapped in a bag. There were two double beds and a desk with a lamp and a phone between them.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a shower." I scurried off to the bathroom with a change of clothes.

I heard Fang call behind me, "Don't take all the hot water."

"Yea, as if this place is going to run out of hot water." I rolled my eyes

The bathroom was equally neat and clean. With shiny white marble and tile, the bathroom was half as big as the room. That's really big for a bathroom.

The hot water of the shower made me realize how cold I really was. My body shivered as it suddenly went from hot to cold.

Once I was clean and my hair smelled like 'Ocean breeze' conditioner, I stepped out of the shower and blow dried my hair. It had grown really long since when I had cut it in New York, and it was perfectly straight when it was completely dry. For the first time, I noticed the natural blonde highlights in my brown hair that someone had mentioned to me back when we were going to school in Virginia. It looked pretty good.

I brushed my teeth and rinsed my mouth with minty mouth wash before I remembered that Fang had been waiting for his turn in the bathroom all this time. I quickly changed into my black shorts and blue tank top before stepping out of the bathroom.

Fang was laying on one of the beds with a bored expression, randomly flipping through the channels on the large television. When he heard me walking out of the bathroom, he glanced up and met my eyes.

"Finally, you're out. I was beginning to think you had drowned. Which is hard to do in a shower, but I'm sure you could have found a way."

He got up and walked toward me. "Haha, you are _so_ very funny." My voice dripped with sarcasm. "But, for your information, it takes time to acquire beauty like this." I said, gesturing toward myself.

I had expected him to laugh, roll his eyes, and snap a witty remark, but he didn't do anything close to that.

My cheeks heated as his gaze took in my perfectly straight, long hair, my slightly tanned skin, my short, black shorts, and my practically skin-tight blue tank top. When he finally looked back at my face he smirked at my blush and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door without a word.

I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding. _What was _that_ about?_ I plopped down on my bed, exhausted.

Fang took a much quicker shower than I did; in and out in around seven minutes. As he exited the bathroom, I noticed his hair was still wet and he just happened to walk out while still putting on his shirt.

Though I desperately wanted to, I couldn't look away. I was mesmerized by his tan, sculpted chest. It was still damp from his shower and I had the sudden impulse to walk up to him and trail my fingers along it. _Oh my God._ I was absolutely horrified with myself for thinking that. My breath came out in a hiss and Fang looked at me, amusement and apprehension sparkling in his dark eyes. I quickly glanced anywhere _but_ Fang as he finished pulling down his shirt.

"I'm hungry." He stated.

As if on cue, my stomach growled and Fang chuckled. I sighed. I wandered out of the door and down the hall, not caring if Fang followed but knowing he was.

"You get the Gasman and Iggy," I said, still not risking a glance at him. I banged on Nudge's and Angel's door. After a few moments, they opened the door, Angel's clothes were getting wet from her hair and they were both—for once—dressed in clean clothes.

"Hey, I don't know about you guys but I am _starving._ Anyone for room service?" We all smiled, Nudge and Angel giggling in glee as we walked back into my room. Fang, Iggy, and Gasman were already there, sitting on the beds.

I grabbed a room service brochure off of the end table and said, "Okay, what do you guys want?"

We ended up ordering two hotdogs, two hamburgers each and water and a few liters of soda(not each). Total ordered a cheese steak

"Are you sure you want all of that food?" The guy on the other side of the line questioned.

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see it. "Of course. I said I did. So come on, we're hungry." I heard Nudge snicker.

"Okay. We'll be there in a minute."

"'Kay." I hung up.

I won't tell you how much it was. It was really a crazy price for what little food we ordered.

"When did they say they'd be here Max? I'm really hungry so—"

Iggy interrupted Nudge before she could start a speech on hotel room service. "Nudge, chill. We're all hungry and it'll get here when it gets here." He sent her a reassuring smile and she blushed, shutting her mouth.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "That was quick." I got up and ran to the door, slowing down just before I opened it.

There was a cute guy around my age, maybe older, with brown hair dressed in a hotel uniform waiting there behind a cart of food. "Room service?" He asked with a bright smile. I smiled back and nodded, letting him inside. Though he was cute, he didn't have the supermodel looks of an Eraser, so I figured we could take him if he tried anything fishy.

"Well," he smiled at me again, "here's your order. I've got to say, there aren't many girls I have met that would even think of eating all this. Especially one as pretty as you."

I was dumbstruck, and, well, a bit flattered. I don't know why, but I put one hand on my hip and grinned at him, raising my eyebrows. "Well, then, that's your problem there. 'Cause I'm not like most girls."

He was about to reply when I heard a throat clearing behind us. My face flushed as I looked back at the flock. It was Iggy who had cleared his throat, a grin pulling at the side of his mouth as he stared at me with sightless eyes. Gazzy just looked confused, not knowing why I was acting so weird, and Nudge was smirking at me with a knowing look. Angel was looking back and forth between me, Fang, and the room service guy with a crease between her eyebrows. And Fang was—well fuming wouldn't be a strong enough word. His fists were clenching and unclenching, as if ready to hit something—or someone. I had never seen much emotion from Fang, but now his emotions were written all over his face. I saw fury, loathing, disgust, and—_jealousy?_ all in one stare. But then I saw that his gaze was directed at the service guy and my face got more heated.

"Yes, well here you go," I said quickly, handing him the money. "Keep the change." I ushered him out the door.

"Wait." He grabbed a pen from his pocket and a napkin from our tray. He wrote something on it. _His cell phone number!_ "Call me sometime." With that he left, and I shut the door.

I swear, if it were possible for someone to die of embarrassment, I would have kicked the bucket at that very moment.

"Well, if you are done flirting, can we eat now?" Total asked. Iggy smirked and reached for a hotdog. I smacked his arm.

"I was _not_ flirting with him."

"Sure you weren't. And I'm not a blind mutant bird kid with wings who can fly." Iggy added.

"Iggy! I _wasn't_ flirting with him."

"Whatever." He grabbed his food and dug in, everyone quickly following his action.

Finally, we were all full and sleepy. "G'night Max."

"Good night Nudge. Good night Angel. Good night Iggy. Good night Gazzy. Good night Total." I kissed their foreheads—well not Iggy's or Total's—and sent them off to their rooms. I collapsed on my bed, the springs creaking slightly in protest. Fang was still looking very bothered. I sat up.

"What's wrong, Fang? You're acting really weird."

"What's _wrong? _Oh, nothings wrong with me Max. What about you? We're not here on vacation. We are still on the run from Itex. And you want to go around flirting with any guy that walks by who might be here to kill us? And you're asking what's wrong with _me_ Max?" I stared, wide-eyed at him. I have never seen Fang like that. That was practically a speech compared to the short things he usually says. And why was he so—so furious at me?

Suddenly, anger slammed back into me. He had no right to be mad at me. What's wrong with him? I didn't do anything to wrong.

"Excuse me? How dare you say that? I do not go flirting with any guy who walks by and I don't even know what even happened with that room service guy, but he came onto me, same with the person behind the desk in the lobby. And why do you care if I flirt? You sure didn't care what possible threats people could hold when you were kissing that perky, preppy Re—Lissa girl. You didn't care when you were flirting with her." I really hoped these walls were soundproof. "I know that we're still on the run. Hell, I know that more than any of the flock. So, I don't know why you're so mad at me, but get over it."

I stood up and he walked toward me. He was _very_ close. "You just don't get it, do you?" He hissed.

My heart was doing weird thumping things from how close our faces were. I tried to back up, but the bed was behind the back of my knees. "Get wh-what?" Oh my God, I_ stuttered_. And he, of course, didn't miss it.

"Why every time I'm around you, I want to do _this._" Then he kissed me.

My eyes went wide as his hand cupped my chin, he tilted my head, and his lips touched mine. _Oh my goodness!_ My brain was screaming. I had to get out of here. I had to get away from him, _now_.

But instead of running away, my actions surprised me. My hands trailed up his arms, finally hooking behind his neck, twisting my fingers in his hair and pulling him closer, so that every line of his body was pressed against mine. My mouth started moving in synch with his and he smirked a bit against my mouth. He ran his thumbs in circles against my cheeks and jaw before sliding down and wrapping around my waist. He tried to get closer and we both fell onto the bed, him on top of me, never breaking the kiss.

He kissed me with so much passion. More passion than I thought Fang was capable of. He turned his head this way and that to kiss me better. He trailed kisses along my jaw, down my neck. To my utter horror, I whimpered. Like a lovesick whiny teenager. He smiled before finally coming back to my mouth.

I rolled over, so that I was now on top of him, and kissed him even harder. It was like all of my bottled up emotion for Fang was coming out. I disentangled my hands from his hair to run my hands over his chest, though he was wearing a shirt, it was thin and I could feel his muscle. Then, to my amusement, he groaned. _Groaned._ I didn't think a simple sound like that could affect me as much as it did, and I shuddered. I loved this. I loved him so much it was hard for me to comprehend. He started kissing me more gently, more loving and not as hungry as before.

We broke apart, gasping. I was happy that I had remembered to breathe through my nose. I stared into his depthless eyes, wanting to get lost in them. Then, like a full speed truck hitting a brick wall, realization slammed into me. I had just made out with _Fang._ I jumped up off of him and crossed the room, my back facing him.

I took a few deep, calming breaths.

"Max? You're not going to run away again are you? Because you cannot tell me that you don't feel anything towards me after . . . that. I know you do." The last sentence almost sounded smug.

I turned around, facing him, which really didn't help my resolve. His black hair was messy, like he had just rolled out of bed. His shirt was twisted and crumpled. He looked so, so good Hot.

I stared down, not wanting him to see me blushing at my thoughts. I noticed that my shirt looked exactly as his did, except it had rose up, revealing half of my smooth, flat stomach. I quickly righted it.

I looked back up at him and met his eyes. They were wary, still wondering if I was going to fly out the window. I sighed. "No. I'm not going to run away again. But—I just need to think. So I'm, uh, gonna go to bed. Good night."

He nodded. I flicked the lights out as he returned to his own bed. I got under my covers, thinking.

Fang.

I had no idea what I was going to do. I couldn't just ignore our, um, feelings, could I?

Plus, I had more important things to worry about. Like protecting the flock. And fighting Erasers. And taking down Itex.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I let unconsciousness take me.


End file.
